Our Story
Humble Beginnings
The business of SGS Holdings, Inc. began in 1947 when Bacolod Victory Hardware (now SGS Hardware Corporation) was established by the Gamboa patriarch, Don Simplicio Gamboa, Sr. Hardware and construction was the main core business of the Gamboas. Armed only with integrity, good work ethic, and sound business sense, Don Simplicio Gamboa, Sr. was able to grow his small store into one of the most prominent hardware stores in downtown Bacolod. In the next three decades, new enterprises were established and business partnerships forged. The business ventured into logging, sawn lumber export, sugar trading, hotel and cinema operations, ice plant production, and ethyl alcohol manufacturing.
New Frontiers
In 1974, the business of SGS Holdings expanded its operations to Metro Manila with the establishment of Hexagon Steel Corporation, an importer, and distributor of steel products and other hardware materials. It was spearheaded by the patriarch’s second son, Bonnie C. Gamboa.
To supplement its core business of trading and distribution, SGS ventured into manufacturing of bolts and nuts and other metal products in 1976. By 1979, this operation had forged a partnership with the Gaisano family for the manufacture of steel pipes. In 1982, SGS diversified from its hardware and construction materials business and embarked on the import and trade of European car parts and accessories.
SGS Holdings continued its aggressive diversification and expansion into other business lines and territories.
In 1984, it launched its first offshore operation in Singapore to serve industrial equipment and refrigerant products to the South East Asian markets. It further expanded this operation to Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia two years after. In the same year, the business ventured into aqua-agro products back in Bacolod, which eventually expanded to the import and distribution of various agricultural commodities in Metro Manila.
In 1986, the business engaged in the trading and distribution of electrical equipment and industrial pumps. It also invested in the distribution of pharmaceutical fine chemicals and finished goods. In 1990, the business entered into partnership with a Danish company, Jebsen and Jessen Southeast Asia, for the distribution of imported industrial chemicals.
Synergy in Action
Towards the close of the 1980’s, SGS Holdings established Hexagon Group Central Services to provide administrative and backroom support services – human resources, legal, general accounting, treasury, and information technology – to its business units. It was also intended to guide, align, and steer the business units towards the Group’s strategic direction and policies. Hexagon Group Central was later on called Hexagon Group of Companies.
For A Better Tomorrow
Growth and expansion of SGS Holdings continued throughout the 1990s and the new millennium. It launched the business of financial services and entered into another partnership for import and trade of dental equipment and supplies in 1999. In 2003, the SGSHI embarked on a joint venture with a Taiwan-based company for the distribution of animal feed additives. It also entered the field of information technology in the same year, which later on led to the acquisition of an Indonesian IT firm. In 2008, it also expanded its car freshener business via a partnership with an Indonesian company. By 2012, the business had ventured into local food processing and foreign partnership for seafood export. Today, SGS Holdings continues to grow its businesses and reach out to more markets in pursuit of its mission of providing quality products and services to customers.